


War changes People

by Greghero



Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-07-29 12:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7684306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greghero/pseuds/Greghero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Artemis Fowl in the biggest dilemma of his life. The fairies or his own species? Set after TLG humans captured and interrogated a fairy. In knowledge of this, the fairies decided to strike first out of fear of the upcoming war. Watching powerless his world around him to crumble A.F. II now official heir has to decide who to side with in this war of species! What will be his choice?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**18 months after TLG**

**Fowl mansion**

Artemis had a hard time waking up today. He had had a long night on his project and he really couldn't stop his progress as it was at a critical point. The result being that he got, all in all, a measly 5 hours of sleep, pair that up with a fair share of nightmares, and his brain really wasn't ok with it. He felt as if he was down 20 IQ points although this was still fairly high considering he had the highest IQ in all of Europe. Dying can really keep you up at night.

The dream was always the same. It started with the kiss on Holy's forehead and ended with him floating just a few meters above her. Feeling tremendous pain and reliving the fear of dying over and over again. The worst part though was after that. It was when he felt for just a second that he was back inside that dark space. He could see nothing, feel nothing. It was like all his hope, dreams, support and intellect simply left him in a permanent state of emptiness. He tried repeatedly to meditate the trauma out of his system but it would seem that magic had taken root inside him punishing him for coming back to life.

The worst part? He couldn't show his sleeplessness due to trauma to his family as it would make everyone worry over him, which would in turn worry him making it worse for him making his family worry more and here you have a loop. In other words he couldn't rely on anyone if he wanted to leave the mental health of his close ones intact. _Well, geniuses don't need support. All they need is their brain and they can cope._ He thought half heartedly to himself.

He grudgingly got up and starting going through the motions of the day. After he got out of bed, tended to his personal hygiene, combed his hair and wore his trademark Armani suit he went down to join his family having breakfast on the balcony next to the kitchen.

The picture almost laid his uneasiness to rest as a heartwarming family breakfast was a very nice thing to start your day with. His mother was talking with his father about a trip they were thinking of going to in the Bahamas. She had those puppy eyes that could make both him and his father jump off a cliff to please. Next was Juliet (who had accepted to be his butler after Domovoi retired in some tropical islands pleasantly passing his time reading, sleeping and swimming) who at the moment was making breakfast for him in an apron with two Mexican wrestlers in a double headlock. His kid brothers had probably already eaten and went to their respective hobbies with Beckett going riding and Myles studying in the library.

He sat down at one end of the table admiring the view outside the balcony enjoying the light breeze on his face. He tried at first to jump start his brain with simple mathematical equations but he found himself getting pleasantly distracted by the view so he decided to let the sleepiness run its course. Although his family had given a large portion of the estate for farming, after the technological catastrophe caused by Opal, they had still held on to a wide enough range all around the house. He watched the sun go close to its peak while he enjoyed an earl grey wordlessly offered to him by Juliet. His eyes scanned the whole range watching the farmland and the people cultivating it in a distance while looking closer and closer reaching the beautiful garden in front of him full of colorful flowers. His gaze then, accidentally, fell upon his ex-laboratory now grave. He probably looked concerned because his mother stopped her passionate discussion with her husband and retracted her eyes to Artemis. Artemis noticed that but before he could say anything Angeline spoke

'Don't worry son we will get it out of there soon enough. We just have to make the arrangements for no one to see us doing so because it would raise suspicion.' Said his mother in a caring tone.

As serious as ever he gave a sigh and answered in a calm, flat tone

'Do not worry dear mother I just want my laboratory. If you let me, I could even work sitting on my own grave.' He gave a forced chuckle which gave the shivers to his mother making her mumble for one more time about IQ and EQ being inverse ratios.

On Artemis' case though what he said was a flat out lie in order to cover for his unreasonable fear for the place. As if a ghost was haunting it. Although even from a superstitious point of view that was out of the question as you could not be haunted by your own ghost. Whatever was not reasonable was moronic and thus shall not be inquired further. That was a motto he had developed lately and didn't feel like parting with as it helped him through gaining back his memories. When you recover your memories you may find yourself confusing a memory with a fantasy or a speculation. Thus that motto helped his psychology while sorting through it all.

After an hour or so in that state his brain was finally working properly so he decided to start his final touches on his project from last night. He was about ready to stand up when a word slipped through the imaginary sound barrier he had created to tune out his parents and made him widen his eyes.

Fairies

He considered the voice. It was his fathers. He turned his gaze to him only to see him nonchalantly reciting the newspaper mid-sentence '"…taken hostage by the American government. Eye-witnesses say that it is an actual fairy and that it was caught hovering through the crowd in New York." What a load of rubbish! It is the fifth time that a "fairy"' he said making quotation marks with his fingers. 'Has gone into the government's custody and every time after a week or so they say it magically vanished no picture whatsoever.'

Artemis and his mother knowing that his father was the only one without memories of the fairies traded an awkward stare knowing that A.F. senior was the only one without his memories of the fairies. The head of the Fowl family lazily rose from his chair and looked at his loving son and wife.

'Anyway got to run. I still have some stock market exchange investments to secure. By the way we will go on that trip honey ok, just give me a week to prepare.' Artemis senior said while the other two nodded

After he was out of earshot the two women and Artemis looked each other intently. Artemis was the first to break the silence.

'I have to go upstairs from my project. It is at a critical stage.' He said although Angeline Fowl would not have it.

'Certainly my dear just do not contact your fairy friends alright.' She said in a polite tone and just a grain of stress contrasting way too much with her warning glare.

'N-naturally.' Wait what was that stuttering. Oh no he may be at the edge of hyperventilating because that fairy could easily be one of his friends but he would not stutter in front of anyone. Coherent speech was vital for a healthy profile. He took a deep breath and continued his way upstairs towards his bedroom. He went inside locked the room. He opened the computer and opened the simulation window but his hand was subconsciously going for the Skype window. After about 5 minutes of fighting it he decided to think about it seriously.

So he closed his eyes and split himself in two. Not in real life but in his mind he was outside the door of a library. Someone was pounding on the door. Artemis took a reluctant step forward reached out his hand and opened the door. In the library now there were two people there, both of them were Artemis Fowl. One was dressed quite normally, with a jet black Armani suit and luxurious shoes sitting cross legged on a chair sporting the usual aristocratic indifferent look with its penetrating cold gaze that made many people think he was a vampire.

The other was just a bit more carefree having a serious cheerfulness standing up with one hand behind his back and the other putting a book on its shelf. He wore jeans and a loose white T-shirt. If one saw him he would just see a mature teenager and not a person that seemed to be a 50 year old in the body of a 15 year old. But he looked exhausted with bags under his eyes and red cheeks as if he had a fever. But he was seemingly oblivious to his state

The cheerful one, who from now on we shall call emotion, summoned a chair with a snap of his fingers and sat on it facing the serious one, his eyes never losing that cheerful sparkle. The serious Artemis, who from now on we shall call logic, broke the silence first.

'So what is this about? What is so important that you have to make the simple act of focusing as hard as racing a marathon?' He asked in a very annoyed and belittling fashion.

'Do I really have to say? We are both way too smart to waste our time repeating what we already know… even if one of us is in denial?' He said in faked bored yet playful tone

'Ok I get it you want to get to the main course from the beginning? Deal! Let's start with the fact that we haven't had words from the fairies in 6 months. Meaning that right after we recovered all our memories we were left on our own with no way to contact in case of an emergency. As far as we know they might as well have forgotten us!' He said in a cold offensive tone

'I don't even know where to start with that awful argument. First you don't even believe that yourself cause that is an argument born by insecurity which is an emotion while you' He pointed him loosely with his index finger 'are the voice of logic in this debate. Now you probably thought that this would stir up my own insecurity but there is no trace left of it after all the times we have trusted them with our lives only to be saved again and again. Hell they even brought us back to life after we died.' At that they both shuddered remembering the awful dream. But being Artemis' mind the whole library shook dropping some books. 'So why don't you stop with the psychological warfare you aren't even good at it.'

'Ok then how about the unavoidable repercussions of contacting the people over some miniscule possibility. And it _is_ miniscule. About 1/10,000,000. Our…' but he was stopped by the raised palm of his alter ego

'Firstly you know as well as I do that the chances aren't so thin. All the fairies inside the whole world are 10,000,000. The hostage couldn't be anyone of them. The hostage could only be one of the LEP as they are the only ones who go above ground especially with the media sensitivity to fairy sightings, already increasing the chances to 1/500,000. After that we also know that the fairy was on street level, which means she was spying on the technological progress of the humans, for which there is a special elite unit in the LEP for them. How was it called again?' He summoned a book of his mind library in his hand and after reading a bit he raised his head again from reading and continued. 'Dark intelligence...huh Foaly is as pompous as ever. Anyway since most of the budget of the LEP goes there it only has the best of the best. That, as you know, obviously includes commander short. So concluding that we have a 1/273 chance that holly short has been captured as there are 273 active operatives in the unit. But we don't care only about short now do we. We also care about Vinyaya which doubles the chances; we also care about Mulch who may have stupidly stolen something and some more fairies too. All in all I say we have at least a 2% chance there is a person in distress we care about.' Said white Artemis in a very self admiring smug. Logic sighed

'Ok ok I get your point but you forget the consequences. Our mother has been walking a very thin line since we came back from the dead. It was already bad enough when she thought we were dead for six years during limbo. She is very close to a relapse to the depression she had when father was gone. She has also developed a Mythophobia of some short being afraid to come in contact with anything even remotely close to magic. She has also become very, very overprotective and barely lets us outside the house. Do you really want to put her in that much stress and allow us even less freedom?' Logic asked emotion and emotion sat down with a grim expression.

'Ok I understand. Mother's health is a priority and reckless attempts to help aren't an option. But give thought to one last thing. Can we at least offer intellect to the fairies without our mothers knowledge through some light government hacking?' Emotion asked resigned

Logic pondered over it for a bit. After a bit he gave a exasperated sigh with open arms and said

'Fine you win. But we shall do nothing that affects mother's health. She has been through enough already because of our little exertions.' He said in a patronizing tone.

'I agree!' Emotion said dead serious. Then they both stood up from their chairs and turned into one before walking out the library.


	2. Chapter 2

**Abduction**

**Foaly POV**

Foaly was leading the dark intelligence. Not in the front lines ofcourse, he was no field agent. The only time he had done that was for his wife and the experience still had him waking up sweaty at nights due to how close he came to both death and 20 year imprisonment of his own making.

Honestly he couldn't understand how Captain Holly did it. Correction "commander" Holly. After all these times that she and that mud boy saved haven, the people and –recently- humanity the council practically forced her to assume commandership.

Needless to say Holly took issue with that. She was a field agent at heart and still too young for her passionate nature to die down. It would probably take 5 maybe 6 more centuries for that. She was capable ofcourse but there were more fitting personalities for the job. But this was Security Theater. A strong heroic figure assuming command for the aftermath of a crisis she ended was downright poetic and laid the minds of the people at ease.

Holly's feelings were irrelevant to the matter and she knew and accepted it. Still… it was bugging her and it showed. Formally she tried to hide it but every now and then she would ask Foaly for a live feed of the camera from dark intelligence for "information", but Foaly knew she just wanted an excuse to gaze at the sky. Even if it needed to be through a screen.

Foaly realized that while he was gaping out reminiscing the team was getting close to the area where one of their own had been abducted. They reached the place still invisible making a circle around the area. It was 5am and there was not a soul on the streets of New York. But being paranoid really helped in this line of business. Not a single person in his team that followed his orders had ever been remotely close to danger.

That could not be said for everyone. The other captains felt invincible the moment they came in contact with the fresh air. What was it about the surface that made everyone act recklessly? Up until now 20 people had gone temporarily missing. Either because their suits wings (due to lack of maintenance of course. His designs were flawless.) Or because they just wanted to enjoy the surface for a bit more before going back, or, in this case, because humans caught one. A certain mud boy had abducted a fairy even before the techno break and another mud girl had abducted a demon. Now, after the techno break, fairies were actually considered a possibility for way too many, rendering the surface dangerous. But exactly because humans were suspicious regular scanning Intel operations were vital. Without them there was no way to know how much proof of their existence humans had accumulated.

It was rare ofcourse but on occasion there would be an operation to scoop up the real evidence and replace them with ones that looked the same but in reality were fake, so the researchers thought it as just a prank. It was a very delicate matter as if the humans found out about registered evidence suddenly disappearing they would get even more suspicious. It was the same with videos online; he had to digitally make them look just a bit more fake without erasing them completely. Espionage behind a computer screen was Foally's specialty.

Now if everyone could finally listen to him and not brush him off as a tech guy he would be oh-so-grateful.

His team, this time around, consisted of veterans but that was precisely the problem. When they think they are experts they heed no advice, they just roll however they want to. They have no fear. Happily just up to now they have humored him and followed protocol, not ofcourse without a fair share of grunting. Had it not been for Viril, his unofficial lieutenant, repeating the orders Foaly was administering to the rest no one would listen to him. Hearing from a "tech freak" meant they would just follow the order if it suits them but hearing it from one of their own wasn't the same.

Foaly knew this Viril for the last month now and he was a brave pixie with his heart in the right place, if only a bit simple minded, although that gave rise to actions that had earned him respect through the years. His simple mindedness allowing him to be a bit more reckless when under pressure to, let's say, help his partner or team members.

'We are here' His lieutenant said formally

'I can see that. You know what to do I suppose' He said with more confidence than mock in his voice.

The lieutenant, according to the slight rise of the camera angle, puffed his chest with pride for the confidence put in his abilities. He continued the normal procedure of connecting the devices needed to the cameras.

You see, normally, Foaly would be a one man hacking army but since the techno break "hacking" was not an option since the camera systems worked on closed circuits, relaying information through wires instead of radio waves.

It drove him crazy how primitive this was.

'Sir' He heard a voice come through the speaker

Shit, Foaly come on pull yourself together. You can grunt, reminisce and daydream all you want later. Even out loud since no one usually ever stepped inside his operation room. For now focus.

'Yes' Foaly said formally

'All ready are you getting the signal?' He asked

Foaly looked at his computer already loading the data.

'Yes, it is coming in perfectly. Hold position. I may need you to check around the area.' He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

'Yes sir' the lieutenant answered.

They needed to find out where they had taken him and that camera footage could give some leads. The loading finished and a window opened asking which from which time should it start replaying? Foaly set it to 8:00 am yesterday as that was around the time the S.O.S. was sent.

The video footage started playing. People were passing all around to catch trains or whatever else the mud people did. Foaly didn't care usually and he really didn't care now. After 10 or so minutes suddenly a foot started to appear, then another, then an arm, then a face, soon a sprite had appeared whole on the screen.

Of course Foaly thought a sprite. They do not seem to be able to keep out of trouble.

He was hovering about 2 meters from the ground but something was wrong. He hanging limb from his jet pack, shortly after he fainted falling to the ground. Foaly gritted his teeth at the fall as normally for humans a 2 meter fall wasn't much, for a fairy it was much taller. Add that up with an unconscious one and you have some certain broken bones if not internal bleeding. The people made a circle around it.

Not half a minute later 4 men in black costumes rushed through the crowd, put the sprite in a bag, loaded him on a track that came rushing through the corner and left. Leaving the people and Foaly gapping at how synchronized they were. This was organized. It wasn't an accidental hostage situation as before. They knew where and when to find him and they had a plan to move him too.

This was bad, really, really bad. His head was buzzing with possibilities but there was another buzzing alongside the buzzing of his brain. He looked up and it was his computer. It was a call.

He didn't have time for this now, he needed to investigate.

But what if it was from the higher ups. Maybe an important update. He decided to take the call. He pressed accept and a window opened showing the face of a mud man.

Foaly took a deep breath before understanding exactly who this mud man, or rather mud boy, was. It was Artemis Fowl. Paler than usual if possible. He looked tired, confused and angry but most of all he looked terrified.

Foaly tried to talk but he was interrupted by the mud boy raising his palm at him while he regained his famous apathy. After that he took a deep breath and started speaking.

'Foaly' He said dangerously calm. 'Have you FUCKING LOST YOUR DAMN MIND?'


	3. Hacking

**Hacking**

**Foaly POV**

Foaly was left speechless through the screen at the sudden change of attitude from the normally cold Mud boy. What had pushed him to reach that state? Foaly didn't know but that didn't excuse him for insulting his mind! But Artemis probably had a reason. He would never act like that without good reason. Not certain how he should act Foaly finally spoke.

'What do you mean mud boy? Why would I have lost my magnificent mind?' He said in flat tone as confusion and anger canceled each other out.

Artemis seemed to try hard to control himself as his arm muscles seemed to be clenching his fists beneath his desk but his face returned to the emotionless vampire-like one people had come to expect of him.

'Because' he managed a steady patronizing tone 'you have become careless.'

'And how is that?' Asked the centaur in a more impatient tone. There was an ongoing mission right now. He had no time to waste to this person. As much as he respected his intellect he couldn't indulge himself in long conversations right now. But this just seemed too important to shut off so he continued.

'You took for granted that you could repeatedly hack into the government's database, extract information and tamper with evidence and no one would understand a thing.' Said Artemis now seemingly completely calm, much like a professor giving a lecture. His fists were still clenched though.

Foaly started shifting his weight and drum rolling his fingers. A habit he had developed recently when anxious. This conversation wasn't going well. He could see where this could be going but he denied the possibility. He had been too meticulous up to now.

'And I still take it for granted. What of it?'

'Listen Foaly, you have been found out. The government knows you hacked the system. They have known for 3 months now. Not only that but they planned the last abduction of the fairy.'

'Nonsense Fowl. If they had known there would be reports, communication records, orders and plans. Where is everything? I have been manually checking new documents since the day you were reborn because the risk was too high to search through code words with another program.' Foaly knew every bit of what he said is true. The council would have his hide if the slightest thing was to pass by him so he found it necessary to be extra careful. He was driving himself dead with exhaustion and caballine was pestering him she didn't get enough attention from him.

At the last phrase Fowl unclenched his fists and laid back his chair, looking paler than usual.

'So that's how!' he murmured.

'That's how what mud boy?' Foaly said getting really impatient. His anger was finally over-shadowing his curiosity

'That's how you missed it!' Artemis said still out of it.

'That's how I missed what?' Foaly all but shouting. That seemed to work as Artemis was finally snapped out of his shock and looking directly at Foaly's eyes through the screen.

'You said there were no reports, right? No communication records? No orders? No plans?' Artemis increased the volume with each phrase.

'Yes I did.' Foaly said hesitantly as he knew this wasn't going well

'Well then I guess that _this'_ He pressed some keys on his keyboard 'is an elaborate joke from the government isn't it?' At the last word Artemis pressed another key. His voice dripping with irony and resentment.

Suddenly windows started popping up on Foaly's screen.

Foaly skipped a heartbeat and stopped breathing.

It was all there. Reports of everything the fairies had done to erase their trails. Spying operations on the sites that the rituals were usually conducted. Fund transfers for recording equipment with a high enough frame-rate.

'What is all this?' Foaly mumbled under his breath. 'How…? Where? What is the meaning of this Artemis?'

'Humans aren't as stupid as you would have them to be.' Artemis said grimly.

'What is the meaning of this Artemis Fowl?' Foaly was in no mood for riddles but his brain was trying to take it all in and he hadn't reached the point that he could process them.

'Do you know the basic principles of hacking Foaly?'

'Yes, I do, but this is not the time for this. Tell me what…'

'Be patient I am explaining it right now.' Artemis said deadly serious 'There are the shared files and the locked files. Anyone can see the shared files of a computer but to see the locked files you have to be an administrator and that's where hacking comes in to trick the computer into acknowledging you as the administrator.'

'I said I know all this. And I was looking at the locked files all along no database can be held from me. I even found 4 secret databases that needed special biometrics. Where are you going with this Fowl?'

'The shared files centaur. The shared files.' Said Artemis resigningly.

'What about them?'

'Everything that has been sent to you was in the shared files of the government's database'

'WHAT?' Foaly was at his wits end.

'The government understood your hacking attempts. They also understood that they couldn't stop you so what they did was not even try. They positioned the files in plain view and because you never checked with the code word system you didn't see it coming. They fooled you. You screwed up. Now they know. The information has already spread on the higher ups of the government with footage you didn't think of checking.'

Foaly was close to fainting. Humans knew of the people. And… and it was HIS fault.

No

This couldn't

No

He was trying harder than anyone. He was checking everything to the last detail and this mud-boy just came around and found out everything!

No

He was going to go on trial for that. The council would have to shift the blame at someone and he was the perfect one. He was even partially responsible. All the more helpful for the district attorney.

He banged his fists against his desk.

'NOOOOOO this can't be happening. This means we are exposed. We went into hiding 4000 years ago and now they have sniffed us out ON MY WATCH.' Suddenly a glimmer of hope ran through his mind. A puzzle piece that didn't fit. 'Why does the government have have top secret files on shared documents where any kid with a 5 hour hacking experience can find them out?'

'Because' Artemis started explaining the way a person explains to a 3-year-old 2+2=4 'If humans saw that the government was conducting operations to catch fairies they wwould either laugh at it and brush it off or see it as some kind of code. There was no reason for the government to fear.'

And just like that his last lifeline was cut. All 4 of his legs gave out at once and he kneeled down. He was sobbing facing the floor when he heard a voice.

'Pull yourself together Foaly. The last order did you see it?'

What does that mud boy want now? His whole life is crumbling in front of his eyes and he was ordering him around. How dare he?

'Yes I saw it. What? Does it have a secret plan to blow up heaven?' He asked in a tone that showed he was out of it.

'No but it has the plans of an ambush. You can breakdown as much as you like but you must cancel any missions on investigating the missing fairy. They are waiting for you there.'

Foaly widened his eyes. He felt his heart had stopped beating. He looked at the screen in front of him and slowly opened up the window of the ongoing operation. The individual cameras on the soldiers' helmets only showed static but the real shock was what was shown on the live feed of the street camera.

An empty crossroad. No fairies, no trembling in the air.

They were gone.

Foaly fainted.


	4. Allies

**Allies**

**Artemis POV**

Great! Just great!

The greatest crisis the People have ever seen in 4000 years and their greatest mind just fainted in front of him.

He was going to assume that the mission had already gone terrifyingly awful and continue on with the theory that all the fairies had been captured and there was a fairly small possibility this wasn't the case judging from the reaction of the centaur.

'So' He said with a sigh. 'What now?'

_You could always call Holly Short._ A voice in his head brain stormed.

'Certainly. Just a moment to reveal to the fairy population I am not dead and buried and ask her secretary, if she has any, to pass me a call to the most decorated and busy person in the entire Haven. That will work great.' He berated himself.

_What other choice do you have?_

That was the million dollar question. Who else could he contact? Only Foaly and Holly knew he was alive. But Foaly was on the floor, eyes rolled into his head.

_What about human allies?_

He took just a moment to consider it before he had his answer and plan already in the works.

He opened a safe channel in the communications through his computer and called the smartest person he knew.

**The smartest person he knew POV**

'It's so nice to be in a lab coat again.' The teenage female said

'Oh come on dear. The convention couldn't be that bad.' Said her father. The woman gave a dignified scowl.

'It wasn't supposed to be bad but three things made it so. One, everything that was presented was small discoveries that I could have made on my own in a month. Second, the scientists were snobbish and patronizing yet didn't deserve to be so with their petty intellect and three they still haven't let _that_ go.' Her father gave her a knowing look.

'Well PR is very hard to handle. Many geniuses have been ruined by it. Think of Tesla…'

'Oh please, don't compare me to that on field _almost_ genius. I am a universal kid genius. Besides I said it once. Only once did I say that I would do it, which I did, on a conversation and it spread throughout the whole scientific community. Now because they have no other way to approach my level they always retort back to this.' She said more frustrated than angry.

'Well it was pretty outrageous to start with. It pulls the interest and makes a good thing to laugh about in conversations. To be honest I wouldn't believe it either was it not for proof that I witnessed myself.'

'Okay, okay I get it. Now if you could please give me some space. I really need to take my mind off this for some time and maybe do something that will reclaim my fame in the process.' She said more eager to start her calculations than annoyed by her father's presence.

'Okay sweetheart just do me a favor and don't stay up all night.' He said resigned

'Okay dad.' She said not paying him any mind. The man left the room and closed the door behind him. The teenager sat down at her chair on front of her state of the art computer.

'Now then I think it is time to sta…' The phone rang. She looked at the vibrating phone for a second thinking of throwing it out of the window. She settled for just turning it off not seeing who was calling. She turned to her computer. There she saw a call was in progress. She immediately turned it down. She was about to touch her keyboard when another window opened up to call her. She opened it, very annoyed by the persistence.

'Someone should better be dying.' She said indignantly before the screen even activated the camera of her caller. The voice transmission though was a bit faster. The ice-cold, dead-serious voice that sounded made her almost burst from embarrassment. Just her luck. It just had to be _him_ that called her at the one time she threw etiquette.

'Well, I cannot be certain about the deaths but I can assure you, torture has already taken place dear Minerva.' He said. The tiniest specks of anger heard through the iciness of his voice that quickly receded. In mid-sentence his face and upper torso appeared inside the window of the computer. He looked anxious and just a tad bit annoyed, none of which showed in his voice.

'I-I am so sorry. It has been a very bad week and I was about to relax and…' She was stopped by Artemis stopping her with an apologetic look.

'It is alright. I am sorry for calling at such an early hour announced and for my manners but it is truly urgent.' He said in a softer tone.

'What happened?' She asked still a bit blushed.

'You remember my little predicament, right?' He asked

' _Little predicament?_ ' She asked, her voice laced with irony. 'The fact that you are considered dead to most creatures alive is considered a _little predicament_ to you?' She asked

'In any case you remember.' He stated, shifting awkwardly on his seat.

'Yes, I also remember that you didn't tell me until I saw one of your aliases being active and I called you.' She said with no trace of her former embarrassment. A pouting tone in its place.

'I was still rehabilitating at the time. Not all of my memories had returned. Once I almost contacted Root until I realized he was dead. I didn't want the same to happen again so I waited…' He was interrupted by a very fed up genius.

'But you were fine enough to publish a book under the name of Dr. F. Roy Dean Schlippe about the psychological effects of memory loss.' She retorted

'It was a golden opportunity. When else could I have written it if not when I experienced it?' He asked exasperated.

'True but you could have _asked_ people around you if I was dead. Butler for instance.' The smile Artemis wore suddenly disappeared in a grim mask.

_Wait, when did he start smiling?_ She asked herself. Now that she thought about it as soon as she started teasing him about his _little predicament_ he gained a small smile which only widened with time. Now she had ruined it. It was always like that with their conversations. At the beginning he was troubled by something but she made him forget it with the conversations they had. She was happy to help him and really not happy when she kicked him at soft spots. And the departure of his former bodyguard was one of the softest spots he had.

'Sorry that was unheard of. I should…' She was stopped by a palm raised at her

'It is alright. It is not what I called you for anyway.' He said in a sad tone. 'I need you to make a call for me.' He said in an official tone.

'What kind of call?' She asked curiously

'I need you to call Holly.' He said. Now it was Minerva's turn to frown at being hit at a soft spot. Not that she had anything against the police officer but she was just…

_No, let's leave that subject._ She thought to herself. She smiled once again a reluctant smile.

'What about?' She asked

'Have you heard about the recent claiming of the scientists that they have found and captured fairies?' He asked

'I am sorry Artemis but I try to steer clear of such topics since the demon fiasco.' She said apologetically. 'In any case now you have told me. What about it?' She asked curiosity once again lacing her voice.

'It was a trap to lure in more fairies to capture and interrogate them.' He said, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

The news shocked Minerva and she had many questions but one was the most dominant.

'Did they succeed?' She asked in very afraid tone.

'Afraid so.' He said

'What do you want me to tell her? And why me? I am not the most popular person among the People.' She stated

'I want you to tell her to contact me and I want you to do it because even if you aren't the most popular person you are still alive to their eyes while I am not.' He said

'Understood.' She said 'Anything else I can do?' She asked

'There is one thing.' He said reluctantly 'The scientist in charge of the fairy research in America is Martin Robbins. If you could get some information I would be very grateful.' He said

Martin Robbins. He was a very ambitious and idealistic man but without the brains to back it up. Still he was quite smart by normal standards. Most of all though he was a likeable man so maybe she could…

Her train of thought was interrupted by a door on Artemis' side of the screen being banged open.

Artemis twisted his head around, shocked by the interruption, only to see a very winded Juliet standing on the frame.

'What happened?' He asked

With an exhale from her panting Juliet answered something that made both genii have a near heart attack.

'Interpol is coming!'


	5. Plans

**Plans**

**Artemis POV**

The day kept getting better and better. How many things could go wrong in just one day?

Artemis always had the possibility of an organization dedicated to law-keeping knocking at his door at the back of his mind but today was plainly a bad day.

He needed a plan but before that he needed information. He turned his rolling chair completely to Juliet.

'How close?' He said

'Huh?' Asked the winded bodyguard

'How close is Interpol to the house? How much time do we have? How do you even know they are coming?' Clarified Artemis rashly.

'They are at the edge of our former property. A farmer complained to us through the phone that some black SUVs trampled his wheat. I say we have a maximum of 10 minutes until they get here. I can buy you 3 to 4 minutes with talking. More if I use a gun but-'

'No need. 10 minutes is more than enough. When they arrive, show them their way to the living room and I will be there shortly. If they come here earlier buy me enough time to reach 10 minutes. And inform my mother, she is excellent at misleading the authorities.' He said collected although a smile almost crept to his face from the time that Interpol had come for his father. By the time the officer managed to disentangle himself from her he didn't even want to arrest the "poor, misunderstood, kindhearted businessman". This didn't seem to help Juliet's psychological state.

'Artemis what are you talking about? You must leave. You are considered dead and although they don't have any tangible evidence they have reasons to believe you are connected to a multitude of crimes! We must arrange a helicopter to-' She was interrupted yet again

'Juliet' He said and paused to calm her head. When she seemed to calm her breathing he continued. 'Listen to me. I need you to trust me alright? I promise you everything is going to be fine. Now go downstairs, please, and do what I said as our time is very limited.' He said and with that he turned back to the screen where Minerva had been listening without saying anything. Artemis heard Juliet rushing downstairs behind him and the door closing.

'Got a plan?' Minerva promptly asked. It was refreshing to have a person that instead of worrying went right to the gist of it.

'Sort of.' Said Artemis uncertainly

'Do you even know where to start your planning from?' Said Minerva having obviously detected that he was close to zero

'Yes.' He said with a smile in a more self assured tone. 'By you.' She didn't seem to have expected that. 'I need you to close this connection and leave no trace of it on the satellite. Then I need you to continue as I told you before. Take these files I dowloaded from the government.' He said and sent his backup files to her.

They were about 1 terabyte of information and it would take way more than 10 minutes to transfer if his computer wasn't an improved version of the C-cube. The way things stood now it was already at 30%.

'Inside here is all the information I would relay to the People when Holly contacted me. I need _you_ to transfer them now. I don't know how much time it will take for me clear out the air downstairs and time is a luxury we currently don't have. I know I ask a lot of you and I am sorry but you are the only person I can turn to. Will you do it for me?' He asked feeling the guilt looming over him ready to crash him the second he stopped being tense from the circumstances for what he was asking of her.

'Yes!' She answered without a shred of hesitation. She raised two fingers to the screen. 'Under 2 conditions.'

'What are they?' He asked quickly.

'One, you will get out of this safe. Two, you will spend a week of your holidays with me and my family at the Alps.' She said seriously

'Deal' He said quickly having barely heard the terms over the wheels of his head turning.

'Bonne chance.' She said and closed the connection at the same time the transfer was complete.

When he saw the window closing he turned off the computer. He then pressed a button at the side of the tower and it folded in a cube at the size of his head. He then got up and opened a hatch at the wall where he placed the cube. When he heard the tiny elevator transferring the cube to its vault, 20 floors under the mansion he fell back to his chair and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was seeing shelves full of books

He once again went into his mind's library. There he found no one this time around. He stood at the center of it where the shelves around his formed a star. He took a deep breath and then spoke.

'Come out. I need your help' From inside him tendrils of light emerged and went to different directions. They started forming figures that represented his knowledge per field.

Dr. F. Roy Dean Schlippe, an elderly man that looked like the meme from the most interesting man in the world stood there devoid of his superior smile but with his lips pressed into a thin line. He represented psychology, body language and general human deduction.

Emmesey Squire, the personification of his expertise in sciences of more calculative nature like physics and math. He looked like the stereotype crazy scientist who was always lost in his thoughts with lab coat and hair flying everywhere.

Stefan Bashkir, he was the persona he used as a chess champion but he was also the personification of his strategic nature and mastery of all games.

Dr. C. Niall DeMencha looked a lot like a very arrogant yet very capable doctor. He was wearing a shirt and tie but without a suit. He was the only one there who was sort of smiling even though it was more of an arrogant one. He was the personification of Artemis mastery in biology and medicine.

Alfonse Lee was the last person to appear. A kid that looked a lot like Artemis but with braces and a more innocent look on him. It was the personification of his acting skill. It was the sweet innocent persona he had to take sometimes to look like a kid. He was his counselor in that area.

'So, any ideas?' He asked and looked around

'Flee' Stefan's Russian accent said.

'Not an option. It is Interpol we are talking about. At the off chance I do manage to flee they will get my mother and father for "interrogation" while keeping them hostage. And if I don't even yield then I will have to keep a low-profile for the rest of my life. That is no life at all. I am already sick of it and I have been living it for barely 2 years.'

'Fight.' He said again

'They will just brig backup and I don't have a private army to protect everyone.'

'Negotiate.' Said Dr. Roy

'Anything more specific?' His brainstorming was getting stiff from stress. He would have found 10 plans by now and perfected 3 of them was it not for the looming deadline.

'Hear what they have to say.' Said a new voice. It was Butler and it was coming from behind him. He turned around and there he stood. But he looked the way he was before he was "resurrected". No white hair and no forehead with butt-fat transplant. Butler continued. 'For all you know they could only be here to ask for your father's crimes. Or his resurrection. Or maybe they want you for identity forging. You have done that way too many times. They may have traced one of them back to you. After that just be Alfonse'

What Butler said relaxed Artemis greatly. Finally his personas looked a bit more relaxed with their normal self-assuredness returned.

'Thank you old friend' said Artemis to the culmination of knowledge that butler had given him.

'I will always be there for you Artemis.' He said warmly.

With that everyone returned to their form of light and went into Artemis. He then exited the library and opened his physical eyes. He looked on the clock and saw that 9 minutes had passed. He rose from his chair and started walking downstairs.

_It's too quiet_. He thought. Where were Mile's and Becket's shouts? Juliet's nervous walking?

When he reached the end of the stairs he saw the answer but he didn't like it. His mother and Juliet were on the floor with their face towards the floor, _unmoving_. Above them a SWAT team had their guns towards their heads. Some more were getting up from the ground where they had seemingly fallen. They looked dizzy.

The moment he tried to take a step back he felt a sharp pain on his neck. He grabbed there and he felt something protruding. He pulled it out and saw it was a dart. He starting falling forward but felt two rough hands grabbing him.

The last thing he thought before his mind went black was an image.

His grave on his laboratory… with Juliet's and his mother's graves right beside it.

 


	6. Danger

**Danger**

**Minerva POV**

'Bonne chance!' She said seriously and ended the call.

She sat silent on her chair for a few seconds, digesting the new info. Then she celebrated.

She threw her fists in the air and screamed in a high pitched tone. 'VICTOIRE!'

Then she put one hand in front of her mouth and berated herself for the immature behavior. She collected herself and took on her most serious look and kept it for about 10 seconds to collect herself.

Then she stopped giving conscious effort and a smile split her face.

Still wearing that smile she returned her attention to the computer. Within the next 10 minutes she had erased any history of her communication in the last month.

_Just to be safe._ She thought.

Then she created a safe channel to be able to "call" the LEPrecon HQ. It must be noted that this wasn't as simple as it sounds. She had to find the exact infrared frequency the certain "phone" used, track it, copy it and emit it targeting Haven from the satellite she had hacked into.

Luckily she got the frequency from Artemis's files.

Minerva took a second to appreciate how perfectly everything was placed in files. She hadn't seen such spotless organization since… well since her own.

She readied the satellite to emit the signal as a reckoning operation. After all, human technology didn't use infrared rays as a means of communication. When the maintainers saw it they would think that this was just an accident. Why would someone fire off random IR rays on the bottom of the ocean?

She was ready to execute the commands she had programmed to communicate when she hesitated. Her conscious though was preoccupied with the hacking and the programming while her unconscious was on her success with Fowl. Now that she stopped being preoccupied with the hacking her thoughts drifted to the task she was meant to do.

Her smile evaporated because of two reasons. One she would have to announce her presence to the fairy public. She had laid low up until now because of her justified fear that there would be retaliation for the crisis. Right now she would need to announce her presence to the fairies. She didn't even know if they knew her name or if she got covered up but now she needed to announce her existence. In the best case, which was no one knew her, she would need to reveal she knew their existence which would get her on their watch list.

_I am really sticking my neck out for him._ He thought. And then _Perfect!_ _Just what I needed to prove that I am better than Holly._

This brings us to reason number two. Holly Short herself. It was a very childish thought but after so many months of continuous conversation with him she couldn't stop herself from feeling just a bit jealous about all the times she had helped him and the bond they shared. They were friends. True friends. It was something that Minerva wasn't accustomed to. The closest thing she had to that was an ex-rival who she secretly had as her idol and with whom she had many Skype chats.

Not the best base for a friendship.

When she understood that Artemis turned to her for help in such a vital matter she was extremely happy. When she understood that her help included contacting his _other_ friend it was a downer. But that had been balanced out by the conditions she had set.

_Mostly the second_ she thought and a shadow of a smile came and left just as quickly. And then, _You are procrastinating. Get over with it._

She pressed enter and conducted the call.

**Holly POV**

The day wasn't bad.

She woke up full of energy, the only thing going on was a routine extraction operation that Foaly directed, almost no one had been arrested and her desk had papers that would only take an hour to sort through.

Practically nothing!

It was a relaxed day.

Normally Holly would be tempted to add a _rather boring_ in the end of the last thought but not today. She had a full week with many criminals, paperwork and more complicated extractions.

She didn't want to ruin her mood.

_It's the small things in life._ She thought tranquilly.

It was because of this that when Grub Kelp, ran inside her office with a phone she didn't shout at him. She didn't even berate him. She just gave him a smile and asked him

'What is it Grub?'

'P-Phone c-call.' He stuttered obviously shaken. That didn't alarm Holly in the least as Grub could be shaken by a paper cut.

'Is it for me?' She asked, her smile faltering at his annoying antics.

He frantically nodded his head.

'Then give it here.' She said with a sigh. Who knew what kind of workload would be loaded on her this time. Grub did as he was told.

Holly took it close to her ear and she felt very… "Grubby".

'Hello' Said a very familiar female voice in English. As to who exactly it was Holly couldn't pinpoint it. But that was the last thing she cared about right now.

_A mud woman is publicly calling me by name in time of duty. This is the end of my career._ These would be the things that she did care about right now.

'H-Hello' Stuttered herself.

'Am I speaking to Commander Holly Short?' The voice asked coldly

'Yes' She said in a steadier voice now

'Then believe we have met before. My name in Minerva Paradizo.' At the mention of the name Holly's memories finally helped her and gave her a first idea of what was happening.

'Minerva what's going on? Why are you calling me?' She asked in one breath, slowly coming to the realization that for her to call right now it was an emergency.

'In all honesty…' Said Minerva and then paused. 'I don't have a clear picture myself. Does a captured fairy mean anything to you?' She asked in a hopeful tone. That started to ring all kind of alarms inside Holly's mind. The operation may have been a routine procedure with low probability of complications but it had _huge_ complications was it to fail.

'Way too much!' She said rashly and worried. 'What about it?'

'It was a trap to lure in more fairies to capture and interrogate them.' She quoted Artemis.

That nearly gave Holly a heart attack.

_A trap? Since when was it planned? And before that to start planning a trap you must have knowledge of an enemy. Foaly told me that humans still found the existence of fairies ridiculous. Why hadn't she been notified of such possibilities?_

Holly understood she had been spacing out and the commander inside her took control.

_Understand the threat then counter it_. The words of her trainer back in the academy echoed in her mind.

'Anything else you can give me?' She asked quickly

'Much but I need a computer to pass it onto.' She said

'Just a sec' Holly said and without waiting for an answer she stormed out of her office towards the operation room.

She passed many officers. Some looked shocked, some worried and some even saluted. Although she was a commander for a fairly short time she had managed to seize the respect of her colleagues. To tell the truth it wasn't so much the time she had as a commander as her biography that made her stand out.

She had officially saved all of haven 4 times and 6 unofficially but the rumors of the unofficial ones had already spread enough.

She barged inside the operation room and found Foaly on the floor in front of his computer. In the beginning she was afraid that he was attacked but when she saw no blood she understood that he had just passed out. She had no time to consider why that was so she knelt over him and whispered a sorry before slapping him. Hard.

Foaly woke up immediately.

'OUCH' He yelled while standing up.

'Wake up. There is an emergency.' She shouted at him

'I know. The humans know about us. We need to prepare and…' He was interrupted by Holly

'That's late news. Minerva Paradizo found out and has already told me. She has some files that she needs to transfer and she needs a computer. Have her transfer them to yours.' She ordered annoyed

'Are you crazy? She might have a virus within those files that will break down the system! Or, or she may be a spy.' He said quickly

'She wouldn't be warning us if she was a spy.' Holly stated

'Yes but…' He stopped due to a glare from Holly. 'Fine. Give her here.' He said

After that Holly watched Foaly talk about some technology staff she really couldn't even pronounce with Minerva. Foaly was flailing his hands through the keyboard holding the phone with his neck and complained the entire time.

Holly spaced out and came back as soon as it begun and as soon as it ended accordingly.

'Done' Exclaimed Foaly and started scanning the files. Holly let him do his work since she knew he worked faster in silence.

Her interest was piqued when she saw him stop moving and turning pale.

She walked to his side and what she saw in the screen made her pale too.

'Oh-dear-Frond!' She exclaimed

In front of her stood many pictures of a familiar mud-boy through many years of his life. Pictures kept flooding in covering the previous ones. The last one to come out was one with the said boy in a younger version of himself being carried by a centaur and being flanked by an LEP official and a very well-built man.

Both Foaly and Holly had only one word in their minds

'Artemis!'


	7. Priorities

**Minerva POV**

'What's going on?' I asked, barely collected now, through the phone. There had been 30 seconds of radio silence and counting and I was getting edgy.

I was tempted to see if my phone ceased to work but I knew this would be just a useless motion born from stress that would only worry me more independently of what I saw, so I didn't!

_Foaly was scanning the files when he stopped speaking. Maybe I should do the same._

With that, and a few quick clicks, I started scanning the files of the computer in order to see what was so important.

When I did I regretted it, and understood the radio silence, but mostly regretted it.

In front of me there was a multitude of pictures coming out of the files and feeling the screen before any of them could be studied properly. At first glance there was nothing in common. The background, angle, time and quality all deferred. Then some patterns started showing. There was always a black clad figure near the center. Then I started discerning details. There was always a teenager in a suit. He had pale skin that came in sharp contrast to the rest of his dressing and black hair that was pulled back in most of them.

I was almost certain about which person this was. To be exact the rational part of my brain was 100% certain but the emotional part had a grasp of what it meant for a person to have several pictures taken off by the government and tried to convince me to wait and see.

But all doubts were eliminated when I was shown the last picture.

I stared at the picture for one good minute, not even breathing, until the wheels of my head started working again.

'Oh mon Dieu!' I finally exclaimed

I wasn't there when the event took place but, from what I had been told this looked a lot like his "resurrection". There were two deductions that could be made out of this… and neither of them was good!

Firstly it meant that a satellite had been taken out of its orbit to follow one of the people in this picture, Probably Butler, for months after the original person that they watched supposedly  _died._ This was well beyond a simple interest in Artemis's person. This was spying of the kind you would see on people that were theorized to be world-class threats.

Second was that for the last one and a half year they had  _pictures_  of a centaur and an elf. This isn't evidence beyond doubt but it is enough evidence for investigations to be conducted. And they had one and half year to conduct them.

Countries had fallen in less time.

Artemis would seem to have attracted very much attention and…

_Wait, police was coming to his house half an hour ago! This means… Oh God!_

I quickly got ready to call him when I remembered what he had told me.

_Close the connection and leave no trace of it!_

Knowing Artemis he would already be planning with the data he had. If the data changed then the plan would fail and I wouldn't only not have helped him but put him in a more difficult position and exposed my connection to him to the government, putting not only myself but her brother and father in danger too.

_If it was only me I may but now…_

Then I heard my name being called faintly. I searched around the room to trace the sound and found out it was coming from the phone which was on the floor.

 _I must have dropped it when I saw the picture._  I thought. Even through this grim situation I managed an internal chuckle about not even understanding that it had fell from my hand even though I used the said hand for typing. The sense of lightheartedness disappeared as soon as it came and I quickly bowed down to grab it.

I put it in her ear and quickly replied.

'Yes, Foaly?'

'Holly here!' The voice was heard and before I could offer some quick, etiquette demanded, apology Holly rushed to continue. 'Minerva… have you seen what is inside this those files?' I asked obviously pausing to choose what to say.

'I hadn't until a moment ago. I opened them after you.' I said and paused 'I will guess you know what this means!' I continued with a dead serious tone.

'Yes! Artemis is in danger! But…' She paused again. This was getting annoying.

'Look I understand that you don't want to disclose too much to me ad that you don't trust me so much but seriously right now I worry more for our mutual…' I stopped. Did I have the right to call him a friend? I wasn't even certain there was an actual word for what he was to me in combination to what I was to him. 'Acquaintance.' I decided would be the certainly politically correct word in this case. 'So if you could stop choosing what to disclose and testing both my knowledge and my patience I would be reasonably grateful!' I said frustrated

'Look, although I don't really trust you, Artemis did and if anything he is objectively better at judging characters than I am. I have laid it to rest since you mentioned him. The problem here isn't a logical. It is emotional!' She said calmly but with an apologetic undertone, doubly surprising me. Both the tone and context were troubling but the most obvious problem with all of this was

'What do you mean it is emotional?' I asked

'It is in the way that you must carefully handle an emotionally charged civilian when you tell them that their needs isn't a priority!' She said coldly but I could feel the hesitation in her voice through the phone. And I couldn't care less.

'What do you  _mean_  he isn't a priority?' I said through gritted teeth practically fuming. I was certain that my face had gotten red as well as my whole face was burning.

'I mean that right now we have a person that will  _probably_  be in danger in the future while I have agents that are  _already_ in danger and in the hands of the enemy. They take priority.' She said but I could once again hear the hesitation but once again I didn't care. I couldn't believe her ears! Artemis's so called "Best friend" by himself put his life in lower priority than some unknown numbers.

Now if it was any other person my logical side would have prevailed and told me that I would have done the same. But right now my logical side was only there to reinforce my emotional side's whims and it was doing that splendidly.

'Artemis is also in immediate danger.' I said before even consciously understanding I did so.

'What did you say?' She asked obviously shocked by the news.

'I said,' I said dangerously quiet. 'Artemis is also in immediate danger. Interpol, the human equivalent of your LEP, is right now in his house, interrogating him at best and having already…' I stopped. I couldn't voice the possibility. I didn't have many people that I cared about. As was usually the case with people of my kind all my care was consumed in that short list and any and every person inside it got the worry and care deserving of a parent or a lover. So I couldn't voice the possibility. It would make it way too real. 'You get the idea.' I said finally.

Silence.

'I am sorry.' Was finally heard through the communication. The voice had nothing apologetic about it anymore. The voice was broken like it was trying to hold back sobs and it had anger inside it. I could feel that it was directed towards Holly herself 'Eight lives are more important than one and although we have the units we only have one hacker. I cannot risk anything going wrong!'

'What if I become the second hacker?' I said desperately

'I am sorry. I cannot trust my soldiers in the hands of a hacker of unknown skill. It isn't about loyalty anymore. I am sorry!' She said and with that she terminated the connection.

I couldn't believe this. This fairy was supposed to be Artemis's best friend and through all this she chose to ignore him.

I was fuming. I worked it though my brain a bit. I stood still. My eyes started burn. I blinked and tears came out. I reached a trembling hand to my face to see that I truly had been made to cry.

All because that low-as-dirt-IQ fairy wouldn't save a person that meant the world to me.

_AND FOR WHAT? Some expendable little soldiers._

And then a thought was born.

_You think you can just ignore me? Well let's see if my hacking skills deserved to be trusted with your troops, Holly!_

 


	8. Organization

**Artemis POV**

I started regaining my conscience.

My head was spinning, my mouth was dry and my joints were sore.

I slowly opened my eyes only to bang my eyelids together a second later as the light that greeted me was too bright for a person that had just now woken up.

While I started regaining my senses from the drug induced numbness I started perceiving information with my eyes slowly opening to adjust to the light.

I was sitting down on a chair.

Judging from the staleness of the air I was somewhere underground. I was inside a small square room, about 4x4, with nothing but a chair, on which he was sitting and four walls.

Well… 3 walls and one full wall mirror.

A double mirror, I was certain.

I wasn't bound by any means. If I wanted I could just stand up and start kicking the glass but I knew that even if the glass wasn't bulletproof I wouldn't have the strength to do anything before they subdued me.

_Speaking of which…_

As my eyes had now stopped being blurry I looked around for any surveillance equipment. Cameras, microphones, guards, windows, anything.

But there was nothing!

 _The camera is probably on the other side of the double mirror_ I concluded

I stood up and examined the mirror. There was nothing special about it. I touched a thumb to it and by the lack of space between my thumb and the reflection's thumb I certified the validity of my theory.

I examined my perfectly cut hair to see that there were no visible differences. I wasn't here for more than a day.

I turned my attention back to the mirror.

The mirror was absorbed by the walls at its edges so there was no space to exploit.

For a second I started considering how I had been breathing but then he saw the reflection of my chair. Under it was an air duct. I moved the chair and a slight breeze hit my face. From what I saw under the lid there were fans.

Not the plastic breakable ones, the metal ones that spin at the speed of helicopter blades and can turn you into mince meat.

Lastly I checked his body for chips, tracking devices or injection marks. I had none

To conclude I was alive, alone, breathing, healthy and absolutely powerless.

 _Quite frankly… could have been worse._  I thought with a sigh

I moved my chair back to the center of the room, sat down and made myself comfortable by crossing my legs and knitting my fingers and looking straight into my reflections eyes.

As I waited wild speculations threatened to flood his mind but I drowned them fairly easily. There was no proof of anything good or bad and panicking wouldn't do anyone any good. Instead I continued to calmly look at the mirror.

Had they learnt that I woke up? Were they bringing in an interrogator? Was there really someone watching him out there or was I left here to starve?

I didn't know the answer to any of those questions but I couldn't learn the answer either so I did nothing.

As time passed I changed my position several times but I just couldn't find something that fitted me. I knew it wasn't because of the position itself but due to my restless state of mind but maybe I could manipulate my brain's autosuggestion to make it believe that it  _is_  just the position.

Time passed and my brain was growing numb. Maybe that was a good thing. It would make the time pass faster.

After a point I completely lost track of time as my mind started replaying classic symphonies like a biological MP3.

When I was drawn back to the real world it was because of the sound of footsteps.

A part of the mirror had opened just like a normal door but absolutely soundless. Through it walked a man in his forties. His black costume was way too luxurious for a simple grunt. It was pitch black, made out of velvet and not a wrinkle in sight.  _Tailor-made for certain!_  Under it he had a white buttoned shirt and bloody red tie. His pants were the same as his costume his shoes were polishes and leather. If I had to guess the clothing of the man in front of him touched 5 digits.

I didn't mind! I appreciated a man who knew the importance of class!

The man walked in dragging a chair behind him and closed the door behind him. The door closed back without leaving as much as a lining to the mirror or a click to know it was closed.

The man positioned his chair across me and sat there looking me in the eyes. He had black hair that were finely combed, a cleanly shaved face and close to no wrinkles on his forehead despite his age. His eyes were cold and calculative yet diplomatic. It was obvious he wasn't a man of prejudice or assumptions. The only things he believed were what he himself deduced.

For now, in the man's eyes, I was neutral. Except ofcourse if the almost invisible smile wasn't on purpose and he had a slightly positive opinion of me.

We just sat there examining each other for some time without even exchanging pleasantries.

Then the man spoke.

'You don't look 19 and a half.' Were the man's first words. He spoke in English but his accent was vaguely Russian. He seemed at ease with the current status quo. He was used to interrogating people. His voice also showed sincere curiosity.

'It must be my expressionless routine. It keeps wrinkles off my face. I would guess that the lack of sun exposure has also taken a toll on my height.' I stated in perfect Russian to the man. I was now remembering that normally he was now 19 but biologically I had reverted to 16. Foaly's imperfect cloning was the one responsible for that. 'Although I believe you have me at a disadvantage.'

The man straightened up and gave a sincere smile.

'Oh you are right!' He said a bit shocked but his accent now was French. 'Where are my manners, my name is Dexter! Dexter Vex.' He said regally.

Well the accent identification was a bust. This man could feign multiple accents obviously. As for the name…

'As much as I like humorous aliases I must say I expected a true name.' I said serenely but this time in English as it would be pointless to keep changing his language every time my interrogator changed his accent.

'Actually' Dexter started 'that is my true name. Well, for the last 20 years at least.' He concluded.

'Oh? And why would that be? You wouldn't happen to be a fugitive now would you?' I asked fairly intrigued by this. A man choosing his name could have many reasons and all of them can give a person tons of information for his psychological build-up.

The man laughed. A very amused yet held back sound was leaving his mouth.

'No I am not. As a matter of fact I would say I am fairly respected person among the upper social classes. I changed my name due to a certain… quirk of the organization I am a part of.' He said

'And what would this organization of yours be?'

'Well I would say that we could accurately be described as a nation without borders.'

I tilted my head ever so slightly

'We influence the world's governments, opinions and economy. But this organization has a selected few influential and powerful people in its ranks. And part of its initiation demands that you pick one 100 names for yours.' Explained the man as if talking about secret organizations that felt ripped out straight out of Dan Brown's Illuminati was absolutely normal.

'Well…' I started 'I would say this does seem a bit… farfetched!' At that the man snorted

'Well you are more open minded than I was. When I was told about this I straight out deduced that the person in front of me should receive immediate medical treatment inside the nearest psychiatric ward.' Dexter said 'But since then I have… broadened my horizons. That would be why I didn't immediately reject the case of fairies existing as a simple outburst of paranoia.' At that my breath caught on my throat. 'And that brings us to you.' He sad and leaned forward. 'What is your relationship with them?' He said in a tone that got ice cold in an instant. I had lowered his defenses and because of this I was surprised by the sudden change of attitude.

Ofcourse, I didn't show it one bit.

'Now that is quiet the logical jump.' I said with a poker voice

'Indeed it is.' He admitted but his voice didn't show that he believed it. 'Or rather it would be were we not in possession of evidence. Photographs, videos, sound recordings, we have way too much to be all faked. And at least half of them involve you, one way or the other.' He said and I was shown my own vampire smile on the other man's face.

A man of intelligence. Even through all this dire situation I couldn't contain a certain happiness I had for a battle of brains with a man that was worth the effort.

'Well, I guess I can't deny everything!' I said 'But what keeps me from not disclosing any more information than I have to?' I asked

The man smiled even wider.

'Nothing.' Said the man.

'Excuse me?'

'There is absolutely nothing that forces you to disclose anything you do not wish to.' Said the man 'It must be noted that this is not because we can't force it out of you, because we can, but because we want you on our side.' The man said

'We as in "the organization"?'

'Yes!' Stated Dexter 'We appreciate 2 things in our organization. Intellect and money. Even if your fame didn't precede you, just from this conversation we had up until now I can understand you have intellect. Your eyes show it. You calm demeanor shows it. Your rejection of meaningless actions when you can't do anything shows it. Your way of deducing and recognizing situations from slight hints shows it. Your scientific advancements are just extras. As for the money… well you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth but then you were denied that. You had to start controlling you family's "empire" on your own since you were 9 years old and made it almost as great as it was in one tenth of the time.'

'Thank you very much for all these praises but I have to ask, if you want me inside the organization why am I locked up and interrogated like a common criminal?'

'Well I wouldn't say there is anything common about your present status.' Said Dexter with some amusement returning to his voice. His hot-cold routine was getting tiring. 'You are in an airplane flying across the pacific with autonomous flight time of over a week. You, and your companions, were extracted through Interpol and then from Interpol with way too many favors and inside this very airplane there are at least 50 armed men that would sacrifice their lives in order to both guard you and contain you. After all Aurum est Potestas.' Said the man.

'Then why am I not allowed to get out of this room?'

'Who said you aren't allowed to?' Asked the Dexter

At that I calmly and wordlessly went towards the mirror at the point where the door was and simply pushed it. The mirror-door opened once again without a sound. I walked out of it. To my right and left there were men with body armor and automatic weapons standing in attention. They wore helmets but I was certain they didn't butt an eye on me.

I was in a windowless hallway that extended endlessly to the left and right. The hall was showered in white light by neon lamps across the walls. In a whim I decided to go to the right. I started walking to the right until I found a window. Outside the window I only saw a sea of clouds underneath which I could see a bit of the Pacific's deep blue. I kept walking until I reached a laboratory where, judging by the door, was the hangar. It was perfectly polished and had everything from testing tubes to electronic microscopes.

Behind me I heard footsteps on the metallic floor.

'Do you like my laboratory?' Asked the man. I turned around to face the man. He was fairly tall, about 1.80cm, so I had to look up to meet his eyes

'It is adequate but after all this I am not certain I understand my predicament.' I said trying to hide my confusion 'The initial scenario was that Interpol was coming to my house to arrest me for my connections to another species. Right now, I am fairly certain this scenario has been dealt with. Would you be so kind as to give me the necessary information?'

'Certainly. I do not believe I have denied you any information up until now.' He said but as time passed I felt like this man was acting as a teacher, explaining the difficult parts to someone ignorant.

I didn't usually like being looked down upon but this time, at the prospect of learning something about the world I didn't know, at the prospect of being given knowledge beyond the public eye I felt something that would be best described as excitement. It was the first time he had that feeling after I was resurrected.

Dexter walked ahead to the laboratory where a small coffee machine awaited him. 'Would you like some?' Asked the man.

'Thank you very much but I am good.' I said even though the true reason was that he could have some kind of drug inside the coffee.

'Suit yourself.' Said the man and poured himself a cup. 'So what do you want to know?' He asked

'The location of my mother would be nice.' I started

'If you walk that corridor to the other side you will find her. To the best of my knowledge she is still unconscious. You can visit her whenever you want.'

'Can I leave this aircraft?'

'In one of three cases. One, you join our organization. Two, you give us all the information you have on the fairies. Three, in a body bag' Dexter said way too calmly. Out of context he could be talking about cookbooks. Then he seemed to think about it a bit before speaking. 'Or case four if we could erase your memories of this meeting but sadly we don't have that technology. I do believe that your acquaintances do have this technology but we don't!'

'Why do you want this information?'

'To prevent war. If we communicate with them first we can pave the way to peace but if the governments do there is a good possibility that it will become a strike before you are stricken situation.'

'What is the name of your organization?'

'We haven't agreed on one yet. Through history people have tried to pass a name as a trend but soon another trend found its way and we have never had a consistent name. My personal favorite was when the Illuminati theories were rekindled so we called ourselves that but nothing has stuck.' He said

'What was that about the 100 names?'

'We adopt the name of one of our 100 founders. Each member has to adopt a name from the ones that aren't already taken in order to join.' He said

'So you can't have more than 100 members at once?'

'That is correct!'

'Why do you spend your time with me?'

'It is a tradition that before a member gets initiated another member examines him and deems him worthy or useless. If the member that has been initiated does anything out of line it is the initiator that takes the blame. A fine measure if you ask me to make sure that selection isn't taken lightly. I have already deemed you worthy. I have been watching you for a long time and this meeting was just the last step. Should you wish to join I would be glad to take responsibility.' He said

'How long do I have before you run out of patience for the information?' I asked but couldn't hide a grain worry in that sentence. I damned himself for that crack in his shield.

'Until you die of boredom.' Said Dexter amused.

I just stood there, taking it all in and keeping them in archives in my mind's library. I must have been doing that for enough time as Dexter spoke.

'As fun as this is I would like to return myself to certain business I have left unfinished so if you don't mind…' He trailed off

'By all means.' I said with a manner of my hands showing him the way.

As Dexter passed in front of me he spoke

'Class, manners and intellect. Invaluable assets.' And then he left.

I just sat on a chair in front of a computer. I tried to open it but it needed a password.

I gave up and just sat there looking at the black-steel ceiling with only one thought passing his mind.

_What have I done to be pulled into such situations all the time!_


	9. Rescue

**Holly POV**

I was pissed!

I was tapping my foot to the floor; I was strangling my neutrino's grip and I was shooting glares to any of the soldiers that even attempted to make light chit-chat before the mission.

And what was I pissed about?

The  _rules_!

Before, everything was perfect! True, there were rules before but then if I ignored them someone was always there to pick up the duty I had left unattended. Root, Vinyaya and even Sool would find away to deal with it.

But now that I was in their place? I couldn't disobey the rulebook.

I  _was_  the rulebook!

I wasn't a mere captain anymore; I was the commander which meant that I didn't have anyone to handle the lives of everyone else when I go off to save specific people.

My responsibilities had expanded.

Say I said fuckall and went to help Artemis. 1) Who would organize the help and rescue of the other officers and 2) The council would have my head as I left my duties and put the life of a human above 8 from our own and once again there was no one to cover my back.

To conclude since I was pissed off at the rules and I now was the rules I was seriously pissed off at myself. For my inability to help my friends instead of some simple numbers that just happened to get caught! And the awkwardness in the shuttle really didn't help either.

I shook my head and tried to focus at the problem at hand.

We were heading through a shuttle to West Virginia from where we would fly the rest of the way to Greenbrier facility where, according to the documents, the CIA base keeping the hostages was.

In all honesty all of the names for the locations and organizations were Greek to me but my objective was simple. Go in, extract hostages, and get out. Couldn't get any simpler than that!

I took a last look around my 8 men that were handpicked by me as my personal squad. All of them were the top of the top in the fairy academy and when I offered them some training sessions they not only jumped at the chance but exceeded my expectations immensely.

My co-leader, Vega Joe, stood out as always with his 1,10m body frame. A giant by elfin standards.

He had a large, rock-solid body and a rough face with a captain Jack mustache. Above his all brown fitting suit he wore black fingerless gauntlets, a red scarf, and an olive cowboy hat.

Sure he was eccentric but he looked good in them and even if his choice of uniform made him stand out more I couldn't really put my heart into bullying someone out of personalizing his work uniform. Who was I to talk about this?

In his position I painted my whole suit a vibrant red and as a result some more people started believing in Santa that year…

But through it all he was an obedient and capable operative and I knew I could trust him with my life and whenever things were so dire I had to get out in the field I was certain I would need to trust him.

Ofcourse saying that he was her only reassurance would be unjust since I chose everyone herself.

Rocky the dwarf for example had digging capabilities that would put Mulch to shame and a code of honor as rarely seen in dwarfs as a code of hygiene.

As I was thinking all that the Shuttle reached its destination and started stabilizing the pressure inside the small chamber. With a small  _whoosh_  that signified the door was open everyone stirred from their seats and stood up waiting for me, as their commander and teacher, to get out first before them.

I got to my feet and with two quick jumps I was now standing outside the shuttle taking deep breaths of the fresh air.

 _Oh how I have missed this feeling…_  I thought and just stood there letting the breeze carry my problems away until I was lightly tapped on my shoulder. I half turned only to see Vega with a solemn face and his arm still extended.

'All ready commander.' He said and gave her a devil-may-care smile! 'Shall we start?' He asked and I turned to my team.

Seeing them I had to admit, my team was a weird bunch.

Vega was the only elf other than me in this team.

There was Rocky who impersonated literally everything the dwarves weren't. Name it and you got it. Afraid of heights? Nope! A thief? Not in his wildest dreams! Lazy and undisciplined? Only when his lady called him! If there was anything to remind you he was a dwarf that would be his smell but not due to his hygiene. That was due to his sunscreen and he couldn't do anything about that!

Then there were the Gnome twins. Dell and Dale who were as much alike as the Fowl twins. This meant not at all! One of them was cold and pragmatic while the other was compassionate and helpful; one would walk through burning coals to help anyone while the other didn't care one bit if that anyone wasn't his brother. They shared one thing and that was a brain sharp as razor when it came to gadgets and since the only other person on their level wouldn't take a step out of his lab if not for a certain female centaur I was stuck with them as field tech experts. Ofcourse I didn't complain as that meant I didn't need to be in constant contact with the said centaur except if the hacking needed is to the level of the pentagon. In this case Foaly simply gave them some ready viruses that would delete everything when plugged inside the system.

Next was their demon medic, Lucy. N1's first, and up to date only, pupil and second warlock to appear since Hybras. Like her teacher he was a powerhouse when it came to magic and she had a special knack for healing and teleporting. Both of which incredibly useful but unlike her master she was a bit more on the bloodthirsty side, contradictory to her role, and was still fairly racist to humans due to Abbot but as long as she wasn't trigger happy I was just fine with it. When it came to her team she would gladly spread her back to bullet fire in order to take care of the patient and although she wasn't so much the brains of operations she was damn good as the muscles. Not to mention she was the only other female in my team and I enjoyed her company!

Oh how I enjoyed beating her in target practice.

After was Malic the Pixie. Just the way Rocky impersonated everything that dwarves weren't Malic impersonated everything pixies were. Greedy, ambitious, cunning and fresh out of moral inhibitions. Why a person like that was in the elite team? He was the third best in a shoot-out, after Holly and Vega, and he was the best behavior analyst in the whole fairy world. Now he might have had a criminal record but it seemed that he enjoyed the challenge of beating all the people of his kind in a battle of brains. I would pay serious money to see a game of chess between this guy and Arty.

 _Arty…_  The word floated inside my head for a bit before shaking it off.

After that was Enenra, a royal goblin. Royal goblins were different than the rest because they were much better at using flames than the rest and their IQ was mediocre, translating this means that they were geniuses in Goblin standards. Him getting inside the LEP academy was a show of a truce from their "Mafia" families to the police but in all honesty they just wanted to get rid of the false heir. He despised violence and crime and he wanted to become an officer since way before the rebellion. His parents just found a good way to get rid of him after that. He had developed a very unyielding personality and he was hard to control and due to that he had been marked as a lost case by his teachers. It was then that I found him. A cold, solitary teenager going through his rebellious faze and not talking to anyone. He had built his walls but I could see the potential in a guy like that.

He reminded me of myself when I was inside the academy and learnt my mother died. It was already hard with me being the only female in the academy but when the discrimination didn't relent in my mourning I built up quite an anger. I had gone down a similar path before Root found me and broke my shell. I just felt I had to return the favor so I took him in. In the beginning he didn't even attend the training sessions but then he started getting interested. I didn't push him and he slowly opened up. He became more and more obedient and warmed up to the team but still almost never talked. The only signs I had for my claims was that he followed my orders and every once in a while he gave a timid smile.

Last but not least was Gil Verbil. Chix Verbil's brother. He was much like his brother but a little bit better at everything than him not due to talent but due to training. After his brother passed away he felt the need to replace him. I didn't know why but I didn't ask either as I was still feeling guilty about allowing my ex-partners death. He, on the other side, only mentioned his brother once saying that he admired me and that he would be thankful if I let him inside my team. I immediately gave my permission. It was the least I could do.

Except Vega the other 7 stood in attention awaiting orders but I knew that Vega too would jump into a volcano if I told him too.

'Do you all have your clocks and maps tuned and set to our destination?' I asked just to be certain.

'Yes!' They all answered except Enenra who nodded.

'Then we move out.' I said and opened my wings 'Formation Raven.' I said and went invisible before flying off. Although I couldn't see them I knew they were now in an arrow formation behind me with me taking point.

The green forests passed underneath me in a blur as I only saw my GPS inside my visor while going in a straight line to my destination. Soon we were there.

To the untrained eye there was nothing. To me it couldn't be any more obvious that there was something here.

It was a simple clearing in the middle of the forest but there were things out of place. Firstly there was no mold in any side of the trees; secondly the grass was greener and shorted than the rest of the grass surrounding the clearing. I touched down and plucked some blades out finding out that they smelled like plastic instead of normal grass. There was something here. I looked around and saw that certain parts of the grass were caving in, in the shape of boots.

 _Completely soundless, not half bad…_  I thought and tapped once at my helmet to send one of the prewritten orders. "Search the area".

If someone really concentrated maybe he could hear some footsteps but a quick look around would make him quickly attribute it to some small animal or the wind.

After a bit Rocky sent a signal to gather at him.

Through my mini map in the visor I found where to go and I was now standing at the center of the clearing.

Dell and Dale turned visible giving the green light to everyone to do the same since they scanned and didn't find any cameras or recorders.

'What is it?' I asked

'The ground here… doesn't smell right! There is plastic from the grass but something else too… I think titanium!' He said with a deep breath.

'How deep?' Asked Dell.

'Not even a meter!' Said Rocky with certainty

'Then shall we just melt through it?' Asked Malic with a cocky smile and adjusting his neutrino in the lethal zone and pointing it to the ground.

'Great idea dumbass! That certainly won't set the forest on fire or/and spring several alarms.' Said Vega being harsher than he had to as a means to prevent from taking any bad initiatives.

As a response Malic holstered his neutrino and spread his hands leisurely, smile still intact.

'Whatever you say boss?'

'Dell' I called

'Yes?' He straightened up and asked

'Find us how the CIA operatives get in!' I ordered

'Way ahead of you!' Said Dale from behind me, where he was doing something with his virtual keyboard.

'What do you mean?' I asked bewildered by the initiative of my shy operative.

'I found the signal of the underground network. It would seem they get an elevator with a certain frequency up here when they need to get down so I just' He said and paused while a part of the ground started rising between the officers, making a perfect hexagonal hole in the ground. 'Cracked it' He completed with an honest smile.

Malic whistled amazed.

'Any idea how deep the rabbit hole goes?' Said Malic a bit more excited than normal with this. The man was a man of danger no matter how you looked at it. He truly reveled in it.

'It extends about 30 meters down but the problem is the vertical space. It's way too big to search it with conventional methods.' Said Dale

'Do you have a blueprint?' Asked Malic seriously

'Just a sec' Said Dale and after some buttons a 3D model opened up. 'Here'

Malic just went over it, processing it. Then out of nowhere he just pointed at a part of the structure.

'Here!' He said simply but with an undertone of satisfaction.

'Are you certain?' I asked. I didn't need to know how he deduced it. This person's brain was more complex than the eternity code. If he said it was there I knew the chances were very high he was right and that was more than enough for me. Malic graced me with his trademark cocky smile.

'When have I ever been wrong?' He asked

'I can count some occasions…' Said Lucy from behind him in a sly manner and he turned to her.

'Lying doesn't count!' He defended

'Whatever helps you sleep at night!' She said getting happier as she saw she was getting under his skin.

I was missing something in this picture but I let it drop. Not the right time although I  _would_  ask some questions afterwards…

I turned to Dale

'Synch the blueprint with our GPS. Malic, Enenra, Dell and Lucy we are going down. For the rest of you I leave Vegas as the one giving the orders. Secure the perimeter and be ready for us when we come out.' Said Holly getting Malic to spread his smile a bit wider at being picked.

'Yes Ma'am!' Everyone said as one and I felt like Vinyaya for a second. That made me feel better even through the present circumstances.

 _Time to extract them._  I thought and got inside the elevator.

'Lower us down' I said and Dell played a bit with his computer before the elevator closed its doors started moving down. 'On my mark go invisible' I said quietly. When the trademark  _ding_  was heard I raised a fist and felt a breeze coming from my back as my company vibrated out of the visible spectrum.

The doors opened to show a plain concrete wall in a corridor lighted by incandescent lamps. Out of the corner of my eye I saw they had to go left so I did. I followed the corridor to the interrogation rooms. Every now and then we would see a man standing guard with an automatic weapon in his hands or another following the dressing style of a certain mafia heir. Neither type showed any signs they understood our presence as we sidestepped them in the narrow corridors.

We passed some steel doors but didn't pay them any mind as we had a target location and weren't searching blindly. As expected wereached a jet black door with 2 guards on either side. Guns at the ready!

I tapped at her visor and sent another pre-written message.

"Neutralize stealthily".

In the next 5 seconds nothing was heard and nothing was seen but suddenly the 2 guards collapsed soundlessly to the ground face, or rather helmet, first.

I went through the door and the two guards were carried inside through the door. I was now in a corridor where to the left, through a glass window the first abducted sprite was chained to the ground. He was in a bad way. There was a thin line of blood and saliva trickling down his chin on his hanged head and his feet were bent unnaturally. If I had to guess from his vacant look he had been injected with chemicals. To the right through another window was the team of veterans missing their leader, Viril. They looked to be in a better condition but they were also dragged.

No chance of them proving useful in a fight!

I knew I had to get them out of there immediately so I searched for some way for them to exit. Sure enough I saw doors to their rooms further down the corridor. I went to the left and opened the door soundlessly.

The sprite didn't understand anything.

I looked up and saw a camera was pointed at him. Not wanting to risk it I quickly typed a new message through my virtual keyboard and sent in to Dell.

"Find the central computer, turn off the camera and put in Foaly's virus"

The door from which we came in opened and then closed again. Now I had to wait!

While I waited i entered the other room and checked for cameras. They were there. 2 of them pointed from the corners of the room to the 4 passed out fairies that were chained to the wall on their wrists. Where was Viril?

I got back to the corridor between the rooms and waited for the go ahead. As time passed I got more and more anxious. What if they had caught him and where now gathering outside that door? What if they couldn't get back up afterwards because of some mechanical error?

As O thought of these things a blip was heard inside my helmet and I saw I had a new message.

"All clear. Coming to where you are.'

At that I turned visible. I went first towards the sole prisoner and melted the chains that held him before picking him up and positioning him in an over the shoulder carrying motion.

I got out of the room and was pleased to see that I didn't even need give any orders as Malic and Lucy had taken an operative each from the other room while Enenra had taken two.

Now here was a problem. We couldn't force their bodies into invisibility as that would seriously injure them. So we had to get out guns blazing.

I motioned them to pull out their guns and they did. Then I signed them that we were going out and shooting on sight. They all nodded.

With my free hand I typed a message to Dell and told him to go to the elevator and wait for them there.

I went to the door and raised three fingers.

3…2…1…Go!

I opened the door with my gun hand and scanned for enemies. All clear.

We started going from corner to corner and if there was an enemy we knocked him out before moving on forward.

By the time we reached back to the elevator 15 unconscious people laid on those halls.

At the entrance of the elevator the air trembled and that's how we knew that he was there. He turned visible and got one of the bodies from Enenra before asking.

'Are we ready to go?'

'Not yet we still need to find-' *Bang* 'AAAH!' Said Lucy before screaming out in pain.

'Find him?' Completed a new voice.

I turned towards Lucy whose foot was now soaked with blood coming from her Shin. Then I turned towards the new voice.

He was a man in a suit holding one firearm to Viril's temple and another towards us. Viril looked barely conscious and not much bothered by the situation. His cheek was bloated and I was fairly certain I could see a couple of teeth missing. I instinctively tried to raise my neutrino before a shot whizzed right by my cheek.

'Huh-huh! Don't make me test the resilience of that helmet dear. Even if you make it I don't think those guys will!' He said and pointed at the former hostages.

'What do you want?' I asked and felt proud at her voice staying steady at gunpoint.

'Dropping your weapons for starters would be nice!' He said

' **You don't really want us to-** HUH!' I started with hypnosis lacing my words before another shot hit my helmet and cocking my head back intensely.

'Sorry I am just not in the mood to be a mindless puppet. This guy' He said and pointed at Viril 'Has told us about your magic capabilities. To be more precise he tried to use them on us but it didn't do him much good.' He said but was no longer smiling. The attempt to control his brain had obviously angered him.

I, not willing to take any chances, threw my gun and the others mimicked me.

'Good now get over here with those bodies.' He said calmly

I was dizzy. The world was spinning by my head trauma but I pushed through it. I picked up a body and each one of my team did the same except Lucy who was healing her leg. Red sparkles flowing from her skin to the wound and quickly mending it.

After that we were all held at gunpoint, unarmed, the agent threw Viril at us and Lucy grabbed him in order to keep him from falling.

Lucy patted a hand to my shoulder and healing sparkles started flowing in. My head started clearing. Everything was getting clearer

'Hey what are you doing?' Asked the man

'Saving her life. She has a concussion and an internal hemophage. If you don't want her to die let me do my job.' Said Lucy obviously pissed off at the turning of events.

The man looked uncertain of this but he grunted a reply and kept his dual wielding pistols at hand.

Now that the dizziness had subsided I was thinking again. This was bad. We couldn't get captured now. If we did it would take way too much time to send another rescue mission and we would be giving away almost all the different species of fairies to studying. This was bad. Really bad! I had to do something but I was unarmed. But wait maybe he…

'Okay now…' The agent started

'Enenra, turn on the lights!' I said and Enenra looked at me with a begging look. He wasn't a violent creature.

'What does that mean?' Asked the man

But now I needed him. He looked at me pleadingly to retract my order.

'What does that mean?' He asked again, annoyance building up inside him.

'Please…' I said and Enenra hang his head and I started seeing the transformation taking place. His eyes started going blue and his teeth got sharpened. He was going into blaze mode.

'I said what-does-this AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH' He started screaming. The green skin of Enenra now blue from the flames he was oozing from his pores and his eyes shining blue like orbs of energy From his mouth a concentrated flamethrower came out and the man was now burning. He was flailing his hands and running around trying to turn off the fire. Enenra stopped the flamethrower and grabbed 2 hostages running to the elevator. I grabbed one and did the same.

Soon all of us were inside the elevator and Dell was closing the doors. As the doors sealed I was saw the man finally passing out from the pain to the floor and turned away.

It had to be done.

But it wasn't me who did it.

It had to be done.

But the guilt was pushed to another one to carry.

I turned to Enenra. He didn't look at me. He was looking at the floor. The guilt was already weighing on him.

We reached the surface and wordlessly gave out the hostages. One for each except Holly and Enenra. The ones outside didn't ask how it went. Through our faces they could see that for some reason we didn't want to talk right now.

As we reached their shuttle we strapped the hostages in and took our positions before starting the trip down.

It was then that I received a call from Foaly. I straggled with the decision of rejecting it before finally deciding to answer.

'Not in the mood Foaly!' I said weakly.

'Well I wouldn't call if there wasn't an emergency.' He said annoyed at the rude greeting. I tensed up

'What emergency?' I asked with more energy this time

'6 armed humans are outside our HQ!' He said


	10. Bodyguards

**8 hours ago**

**Minerva POV**

I reverse tracked the IP address of Foaly’s computer.

I had no idea how I was connected to him, if it was a wire or a signal but that’s one good part about hacking, I didn’t have to know.

That was the job of normal engineers, not software engineers. So, I hacked into his computer with one of my pre-made viruses and downloaded _everything_. Right now, my home’s servers had downloaded the vast majority of the fairy internet and database. The good part about having a population as small as theirs was that their whole internet was barely a few petabytes.

In 2 hours, the download was on 23% but I was already scanning through it all with the help of a translation program that Artemis had co-developed with me.

A heated debate about the vacuum particle computers to which fairies had conducted experiments using the theory of… Anyway, long story, not time for distractions.

If what I was thinking was going to work I needed everything. Their laws and judgement systems, their reactions to threats, their knowledge of us, their transportation ways, means of controlling them and, being the perfectionist I am, even the etiquette.

In 4 hours, I had gone through it all. Had I given it 4 more hours I could have also learnt gnomish but knowing their inherent ability with the languages I considered it redundant.

After I had spotted the nearest shuttle exit to my home. It was relatively close which explained many things about that invasion Artemis had fowled up.

I ordered a shuttle to come to the surface at that spot automatically and installed a program in my cellphone to allow me remote control of it.

Then I got up from my computer and went downstairs where I found my father drinking hot chocolate while looking outside our window. He looked so tranquil I almost hesitated to bring my plan up.

Almost!

‘Dad…’ I called politely and he didn’t seem to register it. I walked away from the staircase and to the sofa where he sat. It was only after I walked in front of him that his still eyes focused on me.

‘Ahh Minerva.’ He said with a warm smile gracing his face as he said my name. ‘How come you are down so soon? I usually have to drag you out of there on dinner time!’ He said in a mix of surprise and mirth. As fun as his antics were, right now I was about to get into a way to serious situation to enjoy it.

‘Dad,’ I started but I paused not certain of the exact way to phrase what I wanted that would get the best results.

‘What is it Minerva?’ He asked and I understood that silence built up stress which was bad for this case. I needed him calm.

‘Well dad, remember the demon incident and the whole fairy people?’ I asked as cheerfully as I could muster without seeming odd in comparison to my usual behavior.

‘You mean the one where you almost drove a species extinct, got kidnapped, assaulted, permanently stigmatized you in the scientific community and we were talking about 5 hours ago?’ He asked with obvious defensive tone. He didn’t know what was happening but he knew that it wasn’t something safe so he tried to discourage me from the beginning. Normally it would work. Right now, I had motives that allowed me to do bolder choice.

‘Yes father that is the incident I am talking about.’ I said sweetly enough but with a subtle undertone of warning and some grains of uncertainty. The second undertone though was not on purpose. It was a natural reaction to a person going against his parent’s wishes.

‘Well then yes I do remember it. What about it?’ He asked but his previously warm smile was now a diplomatic polite one. I had seen him wear this when he had to fire employees and he had it even when he did it through the phone. It was an automatic reaction by now to dealing with things he didn’t want to. Not a good sign.

‘Well, dad I need a bodyguard.’ I said trying to start it off indirectly without betraying my final plan. He didn’t seem to mind.

‘Absolutely!’ He exclaimed and seemed to lower down his guard a bit. I should expand on that.

‘But I need him to be a trustworthy one. Not like… _him_!’ I said with some disgust I couldn’t withhold for my previous bodyguard.

‘You are absolutely right. When would you like him to come?’ He asked and his guard was almost down to zero. He seemed to have believed that what I wanted to talk about was exclusively the bodyguard issue.

‘Well I will need to take a trip soon and I would prefer it if I could have chosen him by then.’ I said and that seemed to trouble him a bit.

‘How soon will that trip be?’ He asked and his eyebrows furrowed a bit.

‘One and a half hour, give or take a few minutes!’ I said with a calm smile but that didn’t seem to bother him. After all we were both used to unexpected journeys.

‘And how come there I this… change of heart? Last time I asked you about it you all but kicked me out of your room!’ He said curiously and I cringed at that. Well at the very least I did see it coming.

‘Everyone must grow out of his quirks at some point. Society isn’t friendly to those who don’t!’ I said which was the truth but I don’t remember myself growing out of a single quirk since I was a child. And some of them are quite… eccentric. Food for thought on another time.

‘Minerva my darling’ He started with a smile and the abruptly frowned. ‘Who are you selling this to?’ He said and the vocabulary inside my head to describe this reaction wasn’t as collected as my outward appearance.

‘Pardon?’

‘I may not be as smart as you but I am a businessman of sorts and as such I know when people have ulterior motives to what they are saying. Now could you please tell me what you really want?’ He asked and I had to wonder if he could understand all this because I was losing my touch or if it was because he was my father and had lived with me since my birth.

For the sake of my ego I decided it was the latter and I continued

‘It is a very long story dad and it is really urgent. I just need a small amount of protection for the place where I am going.’ I said sincerely.

‘And where is that place you are going?’ He asked

‘Haven!’ I said and when I saw he didn’t understand I said ‘The fairy equivalent of the capital.’ I said and he seemed to get the hang of it.

‘Normally I would ask you for details but seeing how urgent this is by your eaten nails…’ He said and I just noticed that the edges of my nails were gone. It would seem that I was more stressed than I thought. ‘against my better judgement I will ask you two questions. 1) How dangerous will this be?’ He asked and I decided against the truth to that question.

‘As safe as anywhere. The bodyguard is just for me to cover my bases.’ I said

‘You didn’t cover your bases when you went on the Arabian desert right next to Iraq to make evaluations on some relics-‘

‘Artifacts.’ I corrected

‘…Artifacts that were uncovered last year.’

‘Because probabilities favored that nothing would happen.’ I defended

‘So now the probabilities favor that something will happen?’ He asked and I was starting to feel trapped in my own arguments.

‘Not with a deterrent they won’t. And an armed bodyguard is a perfect deterrent for this job.’ I said and he seemed to think about it before rolling his eyes in an “I hate wordplay” fashion.

‘And 2) Is there any chance I can stop you?’ He asked and now concern was obvious in his voice.

Great, just what I needed. Another guilt trip.

‘I am sorry dad but there are some things at stake here that outweigh your judgement.’ I tried to set diplomatically.

‘Are there any lives at stake?’ He asked ironically.

‘Well…’

‘Leave it. Please leave it and forget I asked. If you tell me I will probably change my mind.’ He said whitening immensely. ‘Just… promise me you will be careful okay?’ He pleaded

‘I will, I promise!’ I told him truthfully. I didn’t intend to put myself in harm’s way in this trip.

My father took out his cellphone from his pocket and quick dialed a number. The phone ringed a few times before it was answered.

‘Bonjour!’ A polite yet firm voice answered

‘Fillmore, I want you to take the three most able people in our guard and escort them in the lounge in the next 15 minutes. Am I understood?’ My father asked roughly.

‘Yes sir we will be there in 5!’ He said

‘Good. I will be waiting.’ My father said and ended the connection before turning to me. ‘Now in the next 5 minutes I want you to explain me what you are going to do.’ He said and for the first time I loved how quickly the time can waste away when you are talking.

**3 hours ago**

By the time the guards arrived I had barely gotten over the call from Artemis, hiding of course the reason of his quick end. I had made certain that nothing I had said would make this seem dangerous in the least.

After 7 minutes the man, known as Fillmore, came together with 3 more men. All of them were almost the size of Butler although the lacked that aura of quiet professionalism he exhibited and I was certain they also lacked his mastery of martial arts.

That was, of course, with the exception of Fillmore himself. He carried himself around with monstrous concentration and zero relaxation. Something told me he would make a great pair with Butler if he ever even found his isolated island.

The man was in his late forties, very well built with jet black hair if not for the occasional grey one. His stern was as wide as a barrel and it looked sturdier too. I hadn’t researched the mansions staff beforehand but given the situation I understood that the time that I would need to do so was insignificant in comparison to knowing who held the gun that protected you.

The four men wore suits so unwrinkled that I could swear they were pressed on them. Some small bulges at the shoulder made me understand the wore bulletproof vests under the white shirts. Good. Useless to where we were going but god to know they understood that protections even in routine aren’t redundant.

‘You called for us sir?’ Asked Fillmore.

‘Yes I did. I would like the four of you to accompany my daughter in a… travel of sorts.’ My father said and I looked at him wide eyed.

‘All four of them?’ I asked

‘Yes Minerva. If one bodyguard is a good deterrent, then four are an excellent one.’ He said officially and I understood that this was a battle I would not win. I was already pushing it with this travel. The issue was that the fairies wouldn’t be happy that I expose them to even more people… My father returned his attention to the four guards.

‘Is that fine with you?’ He asked

‘Yes sir!’ They said synchronized. Oh, well, the fairies would have to brainwash 4 instead of one at the end of this story.

‘My daughter will be giving all the orders. Everything she says is the law on this journey. Am I clear?’ My father asked with some extra bravado.

‘Yes sir!’ They said again in perfect synchronization. Did they rehearse these things?

‘Well then. First order of business. Remove all kinds of armor. It will all be useless where we are going. I want you to carry automatic weapons and have an SUV ready at the gate in the next half hour.’ I said sternly. The 3 guards looked uncomfortable at first with their instructions but one look at Fillmore’s face made them rethink objections and do what they were told.

When they left I too got up from the sofa.

‘I have to go get ready!’ I stated and my father didn’t answer. It was probably too much to ask. He was struggling with this decision even without the pleasantries.

I wore an official dress and went to meet the guards at the gate. The sun was setting and the shuttle entrance would be hard to find if we didn’t hurry. I didn’t know how much time I spent worrying alone but it couldn’t have been much judging by the position of the sun… independently of how it felt.

They arrived inside the SUV and backdoor opened and one of the bodyguards got out. I assumed it was for me to get in so I did and the bodyguard got in after me getting me in the middle. Fillmore turned from his passenger seat and looked at me.

‘Where are we going ma’am?’ He asked

I looked at my cellphone to make certain about the coordinates.

‘One click south and two clicks west. It is in the middle of the forest. Can you get me there?’ I more ordered than asked

‘It won’t be a problem. Strap your seatbelt on and we will be there in 10 minutes.’ He said and the car started moving.

While we were going towards the shuttle I briefed the four of them about the basics to not panic at the first sight of a fairy. They did look a bit disbelieving but I couldn’t do anything about that. That was though, yet again, with the exception of Fillmore. He didn’t seem shaken by the new data. He was calm.

Maybe too calm.

But from what I have heard Butler was calm too when Artemis told him about all this. Maybe that was a similar occasion.

After a while we got off-road and drove in between the trees. When we reached the location nothing obvious seemed to be there.

We got out of the car and I stared scanning the space with my eyes when I saw something odd. A certain tree that was too… smooth. I went to it and it didn’t have any mold either. At the height of my waist there seemed to be a small hole. I carefully took a stick and stuck it inside the hole.

Nothing.

Then I tried a finger.

I found nothing but air.

And then I tried folding my finger upwards.

I pressed something and it clicked.

Behind me mechanical sounds started echoing through the forest and an egg like dome with turbines and spider like feet rose through the ground.

‘Wow’ I heard and it took me a while to understand that the sound came from me. I had never seen something like this. I only hoped there was an autopilot and-

*Click*

I heard a gun with a silencer go off and one of the guards was down. The other two started looking around, AKs at the ready.

*click, click*

Two more sounds and two more guards were down.

I looked around desperate to find where the shots were coming from when my eye landed on a pistol with smoke coming out of its barrel.

Fillmore held it.

I felt panic rising through my throat. I wanted to scream and shout but I knew this wouldn’t help at all. So I tried to calm myself. The answer was obvious. He had betrayed us.

‘Who are you working for?’ I asked. His eyebrow rose.

‘Well I didn’t expect you to find out this quickly but I had been told you are sharp. Sadly, my employer’s identity won’t help you anywhere. Now we shall wait for my reinforcements, take this shuttle with you and you I’ll tell them to negotiate with us.’ He said

‘And why would I do that? You just killed three of your friends.’ I said

‘Oh I didn’t kill them, the bullets were made of silicon, and they were definitely not my friends.’ He said amused ‘As for your question, you can do it to help your species, for patriotism or to live to see another day. It doesn’t make any difference to me. But I would rather I didn’t have to threaten you every step of the way.’ He said and a cruel smile had crept into his face.

After that we waited in silence as he held me at gunpoint. 3 men in SWAT armors came with another SUV and after they wordlessly tied up my former bodyguards they entered the shuttle.

Fillmore came to me with his silenced magnum pointed to my head and made a motion for me to go into the shuttle. I didn’t even bother to resist. I just hoped that we got an armed welcome. After all no matter, what kind of armor you have it would be useless against a neutrino.

I got inside and set the autopilot to get us to Haven and one thought constantly ran through my head.

I screwed up.


End file.
